Assessing the economics of vaccination forNeisseria meningitidisin industrialized nations: A review and recommendations for further research

Abstract

The methods used and the vaccination strategies vary widely, and results do not provide strong grounds for making conclusions as to whether vaccination is cost-effective. Furthermore, in all instances, transmission of disease, changes in population carriage rates, and outbreaks are either ignored, dealt with using very broad simplifying assumptions, or are not necessarily generalizable to other settings. The analyses provide some insight into the potential cost-effectiveness of vaccination, but more importantly, they highlight areas requiring further study. Economic evaluations based on observed outcomes from recently implemented strategies would be helpful, as would more sophisticated health economic models. The choice of vaccination strategies cannot be based on the results of existing economic analyses.

Cost impact of complications in meningococcal disease: Evidence from a United States managed care population

“…30,31 Several previous studies assessing the economic benefits of meningococcal vaccination programs have not accounted for the additional costs associated with the presence of IMD sequelae. [23][24][25][26] Excluding such costs likely can lead to underestimation of the potential benefits associated with vaccination programs. 25,32 Our study therefore provides recent empirical data on health care utilization and associated costs for IMD-related sequelae that can be included in future cost-effectiveness analyses of meningococcal vaccination programs.…”

“…[18][19][20][21][22] Although these associated sequelae are typically chronic in nature and need long-term care, not all studies assessing the economic impact of a meningococcal vaccination program have considered the costs associated with these sequelae. [23][24][25][26] The objective of this study, therefore, was to compare health care utilization and associated costs in IMD patients with and without related sequelae. Findings from this study will facilitate a better understanding of the economic burden associated with IMD.…”

Methodological Concerns with Economic Evaluations of Meningococcal Vaccines

“…Several authors have compiled reviews of both published and unpublished evaluations of meningococcal vaccine use in developed countries, [10,11,[26][27][28] the most recent in 2008. [27] While a key objective of each review was to summarize the existing economic evidence of vaccine cost effectiveness, the overall purpose of the reviews varied somewhat.…”

“…Several reviewers have recommended empirical studies of existing vaccination programmes to help identify cost-effective implementation strategies. [9][10][11] Such analyses, by definition, are available only after a programme has been chosen and instituted. Thus, the need for economic evaluations to guide policy decisions remains, and those evaluations will necessarily include at least some modelling.…”

Cost-effectiveness analysis of a multicomponent meningococcal serogroup B vaccine in hypothetic epidemic situation in a middle-income country

“…42,43 Evidence from large-scale vaccination programs in Canada, Spain and the UK [43][44][45] suggest that there may be benefits on the herd immunity associated with meningococcal vaccination, at least in some populations, 46 situation that theoretically could occur with the NmenB vaccine improving its cost effectiveness.…”